Georgia Trend Daily – March 28, 2023
March 28, 2023 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
Okefenokee protection bill won’t pass this year, despite majority support in the House
Gautama Mehta reports that a bill to protect the Okefenokee Swamp from future mining has 91 sponsors in Georgia’s House of Representatives, a body with just 180 members. The bill would almost certainly pass the House if given a floor vote, having been introduced with majority support at the outset of its legislative journey.
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March 28, 2023 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Catching up with … Maria “Mayte” Peck
Karen Kirkpatrick reports on Atlanta’s Maria Peck, who owns SheLends Consulting, a company that works to educate underserved and underrepresented entrepreneurs about how to start and grow a business.
March 28, 2023 Augusta Chronicle
AU Health bonds continue slide as construction set to start on Columbia County hospital
Abraham Kenmore reports that AU Health is facing a downgrade in its bond rating just as it is set to begin construction on a new hospital in Columbia County. The bond rating agency Moody’s last week downgraded AU Health’s bonds to B2 from Ba3, and said that the hospital has $244 million in debt outstanding.
March 28, 2023 GlobalAtlanta.com
Delta Flies Restored Tel Aviv Flight Into Israel’s Political Storm
Trevor Williams reports that Delta Air Lines Inc.’s new nonstop flight from Atlanta to Tel Aviv took off Sunday and arrived Monday morning 14 minutes early at 9:01 a.m. without incident. What awaited on the ground, however, was an acute political crisis that for a brief time grounded subsequent flights at the Ben Gurion Airport.
March 28, 2023 The Center Square
Georgia taxpayers have the eighth-best return on ‘investment’
T.A. Defeo reports that Georgia taxpayers have the eighth-best return on their “investment.” WalletHub used 29 metrics to analyze the efficiency of state-government services across five categories: education, the economy, health, safety and infrastructure and pollution, to develop the rankings.
March 28, 2023 The Brunswick News
Trident Training Facility expansion begins at Kings Bay
Gordon Jackson reports that a groundbreaking was recently held for two additions to Trident Training Facility at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in preparation for the arrival of Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines later this decade. The first of the Columbia-class submarine is expected to arrive at Kings Bay as early as 2027.
March 28, 2023 Savannah Morning News
River Street, Canal District to see upgrades as Savannah hotel-motel tax passes Legislature
Will Peebles reports that Savannah will see an increase in taxes levied on hotel stays within city limits following the Georgia General Assembly’s passage of the long-sought increase to the hotel-motel tax. Since this legislation was a local bill, only the nine members of the Chatham legislative delegation voted on the increase during Monday’s session.
March 28, 2023 Marietta Daily Journal
‘Targeted by big government’: Smyrna gun store owners, U.S. representatives decry ATF inspection
Hunter Riggall reports that the operators of a popular Smyrna gun store and Republican members of Congress are decrying the store’s inspection this week by federal authorities, calling it an overreach by law enforcement. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives began an inspection Friday of Adventure Outdoors, the sprawling gun store and shooting range on South Cobb Drive.
March 28, 2023 Fresh Take Georgia
Bill to install a monument of Clarence Thomas at Georgia Capitol stalls
Madgie Robinson reports, in 2017, a statue of the late Martin Luther King Jr. was unveiled on the frontage of the Georgia Capitol. The 8-foot bronze statue of the civil rights leader stands on a pedestal with “MLK” engraved in gold lettering.
March 28, 2023 Georgia Recorder
Prosecutor oversight bill headed to Kemp; local control concerns dismissed
Stanley Dunlap reports that the Georgia General Assembly sent a controversial bill to the governor’s desk Monday to create a new disciplinary board for the state’s local district attorneys. On the 39th day of the 40-day legislative session, the GOP-controlled House approved the creation of a prosecuting attorneys oversight commission by a 92-77 vote, largely along party lines.
March 28, 2023 Capitol Beat News
Medical cannabis bill closer to passing General Assembly
Dave Williams reports that a bill that seeks to fix the problems that have long plagued Georgia’s medical marijuana program is a step closer to passing the General Assembly. The state Senate voted 53-3 in favor of legislation the House passed earlier this month, but with a series of substantive changes that will force it to return to the House before it can gain final passage.
March 28, 2023 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kemp backs $6,500 private school ‘voucher’ measure
Greg Bluestein reports that Gov. Brian Kemp for the first time publicly endorsed a legislative push to expand funding for private school vouchers, wading into a debate that has divided state lawmakers and drawn fierce opposition from public school systems. In an interview Monday with News 95.5 and AM 750 WSB’s Erick Erickson, the governor praised a Senate measure that would provide a $6,500 annual voucher as a “good bill” and urged House lawmakers to approve it before the legislative session ends Wednesday.
